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Actors: Margaret O'Brien, Cyd Charisse, Danny Thomas, Karin Booth
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about The Unfinished Dance |
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Meg Merlin is a young ballet student in New York. She is obsessed with one of the ballerinas in the company, Ariane Bouchet. Meg spends most of her time watching her, instead of attending her lessons. When she finds out that the company is hiring Lady Anna La Darina, Meg thinks they want to replace Ariane. Meg decides to sabotage La Darina. During a performance, Meg decides to turn off the lights during La Darina's solo, but accidentally hits the trap door, causing La Darina to fall. Meg's friend Josie tells her what happened and Meg runs out of the theatre.
The fall injures La Darina's spine and prevents her from dancing. Meg suffers from guilt and fear. Josie knows what happened and Meg's rival, Phyllis suspects. Phyllis tries to bribe Josie to tell her what happened. When Meg finds out, she also bribes Josie with a hat in order to keep her quiet. Meg tries to confess herself, and goes to see La Darina at her home. But, she can't bring herself to say what happened. La Darina asks to see Meg dance, and starts to imagine a new career as a ballet teacher. She goes back to the company.
La Darina joins a panel of instructers to decide which student will dance a featured role in a ballet with Ariane. Everyone agrees that Meg is the best choice, but when Josie hears she wasn't chosen, she decides that Meg isn't her friend. Terrified that Josie will expose her, Meg pretends to be hurt and tells La Darina she can't dance. La Darina knows she's faking, but can't figure out why. When Meg confesses to Josie that she couldn't get La Darina to change her mind, Josie decides to tell Phyllis what happened. Meg goes to hide, until Mr. Paneros, a friend of her aunt finds her. He finds out why she's so afraid. Mistakenly, he believes she has already confessed to La Darina and goes to thank her for being so understanding about the accident. But, when he finds out that it's the first time she's heard of it, he decides that it's best that he and Meg go on vacation. But, La Darina makes a surprise visit to see them.
--Angela Tircuit, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of The Unfinished Dance |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Getting ahead in:
- entertainment world
Inner struggle or disability
Yes
Struggle with
- guilt over actions that lead to death/injury
Job/Profession/Poverty Story?
Yes
Job:
- dancer
Training/apprentice story
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- a kid
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (woman) long straight
Body type
- (woman) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- caring
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Main Adversary
Identity:
- general circumstances
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
City?
Yes
City:
- New York
Style
Any profanity?
- None
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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